What we really need our kids to know

A great gift of authentic Catholic education is the legacy of right-reason.

There are many schools offering ‘fine education.’ But as Catholics, in order to live in harmony with our baptismal and marital promises, we are charged not with sending our kids to prestigious schools, but with educating them first in the things of God. 

Intelligence is the raw ability to grasp something. Not everyone does so equally, which is why some students excel in subjects that others don’t. I sensed in 11th grade that I might not have a science calling, based on my daily bewilderment in chemistry class, despite countless hours studying. Watching episodes of “Medical Center” didn’t get me any closer to becoming a doctor. Switching to visions of engineering only made it worse – in physics and calculus classes. Upon seeing my faulty equations snaking across the blackboard, our math nun blurted, “and you’ll never be an engineer.” The all-girl class chortled; I was humiliated. But she did me a timely favor. Such Catholic teachers spoke plain truth without fear, and spared us later agony. When I changed my intended major to journalism, Sister Raphael cheered with an “atta girl!”

True spiritual knowledge resides in a faithful Catholic for deciphering difficult crossroads, then taking the correct route using right-reason attuned to God’s blueprint. This must be imbued along with academics, so the foggy intersections of life can be confidently navigated. Spiritual knowledge – which implants as a seedling Gift at Confirmation – gets perfected over time in the conscientious Catholic. It gets stronger through a robust Catholic education and shepherding, and proves more valuable than gold.

Our eldest son wanted to study history, and had high school teachers claiming the finest colleges would want him; his grades were tops and they pushed Ivy League applications. We realized his faith could become unsettled in a star school that poo-pooed it, and which may not impart history accurately anyway. We did the unpopular thing and ruled out the college counselor’s picks, supplanting a few strong Catholic colleges with top history programs. He got into the toughest one, offering a core curricula based on pursuit of truth in the classical Western tradition. He met his future wife there – they’re now raising their young family solid in the faith.

Our younger son attended a secular university for jazz trumpet – no Catholic colleges offered it. We narrowed his school choices to those with a strong Catholic ministry – offering Mass, sacraments, and spiritual direction – to support kids’ faith. He also did graduate studies there, remaining active as an acolyte in the campus parish. He is now embarking on a military trumpet position, while discerning a religious vocation.

Unless kids are taught to love and lean on God, they’ll likely have tumultuous lives. Unchecked worldly immersion destroys Catholic purity, and beckons to a life of habitual serious sin and radical behavior. Not one of us can live in peace without God’s protective grace. Today’s kids are on tough front lines – they must know God as their battle-partner. Then they can win.